Dish mat



dan. 13, 1925.

A. J. SMILEY DISH MAT Filed sept. 16.V 1922 -n-nu-q 51222' Zeg l AzberfJ Patented Jam 13, 1925.

ALBERT J'. SMILEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DSI-I Application filed September To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ALBERT il. SMILEY, a citizen of the Unite-d itates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Dish Mats, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to mats, and more particularly to dish mats.

lt is an object of the invention to provide a mat of this character adapted to be, placed upon the drain board to prevent contact of the dishes with the drain board.

It is another object of the invention to provide a mat of this character wherein the mat not only serves to prevent contact of the dishes with the drain board, but permits the dishes to drip and permits the drippings to return to the sink unobstructedly.

lt is a. further object of the invention to provide a device of this character which may be readily folded when not in use, and stored in a small place, and wherein the means used to connect the sections of the mat to each other are also used to prevent contact of the dishes with the frames of the mats.

l/Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more particularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top plan view of a dish mat constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invent-ion;

Figure 2 is another form of the invention; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, 5 and 6 designate frames, preferably rectangular, each frame consisting of a strip of material, bent at its central portion to provide the end 't' of the frame and side portions 8 and 9, the. end 'portions of the strip being extended toward each other and secured by any suitable means to provide. the end 10 of the frame. It is of course obvious that any number of these frames may be provided, according to the size of the drain board.

Extending longitudinally of each frame is a series of expansible and retractable supporting members 11, each member consisting of a length of resilient wire coiled sub- MAT.

16, 1922. serial No. 588,848.

stantially in the form of a coil spring, the coils being partially separated. The end 12 of the member is secured to the end 10 of the frame, while the end 13 of the member is secured to the end '7. This securing operation may be done by soldering said ends to the edges of the fra-me or inserting the ends in openings provided in the frame. Each of the members 11 is disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other and the sides 8 and 9 of the frame, and adjacent each other, so that the distance between each member substantially corresponds to the diameter of one of said members.

Y*lxtending laterally of the frame is a series of eXpansible and retractable supporting members 1l, each of the supporting members 14 consisting of a` length of resilient wire coiled at spaced intervals longitudinally thereof, each coil being connected by a bowed connecting portion 15. The end portion 16 of each of the supporting members 14.- is secured to the side member 9 of the frame, while the end portion 1.7 of the supporting member la is secured to the side member' A8 of the frame. The supporting members le are disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other laterally of the frame, the distance between said members corresponding to the diameter of one of said members. These members substantially resemble coil springs.

[n assembling the supporting members of each frame, the connecting portion l5 of each of the supporting members 14 are eX- tended over the adjacent coiled portions of the adjacent supporting member 11, so that in this way each of the supporting members 11 substantially intersects the adjacent portion of each of the supporting members 14, thereby disposing the coils of the members 14 between the members 11 and permitting the members l-l to intersect the members 1l. Thus both the members 11 and l-l are disposed substantially in the same plane within the frame, thereby providing an even surface on which dishes may be placed.

Any number of the frames 5 may be provided, but for the purpose of illustration only two are shown. Each frame is connected to the adjacent frame by a connecting member consisting of a length of resilient wire 18 which is coiled about the side member 8 of one frame and the side member 9 of the adjacent frame, so as to enclose said side members in the connecting member. The end 19 of the connecting member is connected to the side member of one frame, While the end 2O oi. the connecting member yis connected to the side member 8 of the adjacent frame. The coils of the connect-ing member are disposed in the plane of the coils of the supporting members 11 and 14. In this Way the connecting member substantially forms a continuation of the mat of each frame thereby preventing the dishes from coming in contact with the sides of the frame.

Y In Figure 2, another form of the invention is shown. In this form protect-ing members 2l are provided for the ends of the frame and sides of the frame not connected to the adjacent frame. These protectors are similar to the supporting members 1l and 14vin that they are constructed from a length of Wire Which is coiled around the sides and ends of the frame and secured to said sides and ends to prevent contact. of the dishes with said sides and ends.

lith this mat dishes may be placed on the-drain board Without the exercise ot great care, as the flexibility of the support- Ving members 14 Will prevent the dishes from breaking and also prevent the dishes from coming inl contact With the drain board,

so that cracking of the dishes is impossible. Furthermore, in view of the coiled formation of the supporting membersl and 14, said members permit the Water dripping from the dishes to pass beneath the mat doivn the drain board to the sink so that the mat serves the additional purpose of a drainer. In addition to this the intersecting feribe manufactured in large quantities fromA a small amount oi material. l What is claimed is:-

A dish mat comprising a plurality of frames, a connecting member coiled around the adjacent-'sides of each frame for yieldably and movably connecting saidmembers to each other, each ofsaidirames havingV a series of longitudinally'extending supporting members anda series of laterally extending supporting' members, each of theA longitudinally extending supporting members consisting of' a length of coiled resilient Wire, the ends of said Wire being Vfastened to the ends ofthe frame, each of the laterally extending members consistingV of aV length of resilient Wire-coiled at spaced intervals longitudinallythereof; the portions of the Wire between the coils being adapted to extend over the coils of the adjacent longitudinalY supporting members.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

ALBBERT J. Y SMILEY. 

